January Park and Urmston were again upon the war-path, though the incessant winds, fogs, and rains of that most inclement portion of the Transvaal seriously hampered their operations.  Several skirmishes with the commandos of Muller and Trichardt gave no very decisive result, but a piece of luck befell the British on January 25th in the capture of General Viljoen by an ambuscade cleverly arranged by Major Orr in the neighbourhood of Lydenburg.  Though a great firebrand before the war, Viljoen had fought bravely and honourably throughout the contest, and he had won the respect and esteem of his enemy.

Colonel Park had had no great success in his last two expeditions, but on February 20th he made an admirable march, and fell upon a Boer laager which lay in placid security in the heart of the hills.  One hundred and sixty-four prisoners, including many Boer officers, were the fruits of this success, in which the National Scouts, or ‘tame Boers,’ as they were familiarly called, played a prominent part.  This commando was that of Middelburg, which was acting as escort to the government, who again escaped dissolution.  Early in March Park was again out on trek, upon one occasion covering seventy miles in a single day.  Nothing further of importance came from this portion of the seat of war until March 23rd, when the news reached England that Schalk Burger, Reitz, Lucas Meyer, and others of the Transvaal Government had come into Middelburg, and that they were anxious to proceed to Pretoria to treat.  On the Eastern horizon had appeared the first golden gleam of the dawning peace.

Having indicated the course of events in the Eastern Transvaal, north and south of the railway line, I will now treat one or two incidents which occurred in the more central and northern portions of the country.  I will then give some account of De Wet’s doings in the Orange River Colony, and finally describe that brilliant effort of De la Rey’s in the west which shed a last glory upon the Boer arms.

In the latter days of December, Colenbrander and Dawkins operating together had put in a great deal of useful work in the northern district, and from Nylstrom to Pietersburg the burghers were continually harried by the activity of these leaders.  Late in the month Dawkins was sent down into the Orange River Colony in order to reinforce the troops who were opposed to De Wet.  Colenbrander alone, with his hardy colonial forces, swept through the Magaliesburg, and had the double satisfaction of capturing a number of the enemy and of heading off and sending back a war party of Linchwe’s Kaffirs who, incensed by a cattle raid of Kemp’s, were moving down in a direction which would have brought them dangerously near to the Dutch women and children.  This instance and several similar ones in the campaign show how vile are the lies which have been told of the use, save under certain well-defined conditions, of armed natives by the British during the war.  It would